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Ram
Ram was an actuarial program who "worked for a big insurance company" before being captured by the MCP and forced to play on the Game Grid. While held captive, he met and befriended Tron, and accompanied him and Kevin Flynn on their escape from the Light Cycle Grid. Biography Ram was created by ENCOM programmer Roy Kleinberg. He was appropriated by the MCP from the big insurance company where he worked, and remained on the Game Grid for 200 microcycles. By the time he met Crom, he had advanced to the point where he no longer wore the novice's half-tunic worn by new conscripts. He explained the Game Grid to Crom, and asked for news of the system outside. Although briefly demoralized when yet another new conscript, Kevin Flynn, was thrown into the cell next to him, Ram quickly befriended him. Later, he remarked to Tron that there was something different about the new guy. When Ram, Tron, and Flynn were teamed up for a Light Cycle match against three system warriors, Ram helped Tron defeat the last remaining enemy before the three of them escaped the Light Cycle Grid. He objected when Flynn and Tron started talking about taking down the MCP, saying that there were only three of them, but stayed with them nonetheless. After reenergizing at a power spring, Ram and Flynn were separated from Tron when their Light Cycles were hit by a shot from a Light Tank. In search of safety, Flynn moved the injured Ram to a system junkyard, finding refuge in a broken-down Recognizer cockpit. Amazed at Flynn's ability to reconstruct the Recognizer, Ram asked if he was a user. Flynn, finally realizing how badly Ram was injured, disclosed his identity, and Ram asked him to help Tron before finally derezzing. In later years, Flynn memorialized Ram by giving his name to Roy, his original User, as a nickname. Personality and Traits Ram is very laid back and disarming. He took great pride in his work as an actuarial program, remarking (to Flynn's bemusement) that it gave him a great feeling to help people plan for their future needs. While on the Game Grid, Ram evolved beyond his original programming into quite a proficient gamer. Though not quite at Tron's level, Ram expressed a fair amount of confidence in his abilities, much to Flynn's amazement while they were held in detention between contests. When not resting, Ram practiced incessently with his disc, honing his skills despite the confining space of the pit cells. Trivia * Ram's callsign on the light cycle grid was Gold 3. His light cycle was red. * Ram is probably named for Random-Access Memory, a form of data storage within a computer. * His use of his identity disc as a drinking vessel at the power spring is the only time an identity disc was used as anything other than a weapon or memory storage device. * In an early version of the script, Ram taught Flynn gaming skills during a training montage. The same script version saw Ram derezzing after transferring his remaining energy into Flynn to help him jumpstart the Recognizer, an act of sacrifice which did not occur in the final version of the movie. * In the Brian Daley novelization of the movie, Ram marked time in the pit cells by scratching hash lines into the walls. He also whistled while inspecting his disc between battles: "an eerie, lilting tune that Flynn didn't recognize as any User music." In one of several circuit-color differences between movie and book, Ram's vehicle on the light cycle grid was green. * In the close-up scene where Ram shows off his disc skills, the tricks were done by Frisbee professional Sam Schatz. * Dan Shor explained Ram's character by comparing him to a Golden Retriever, with an "unabashed and unconditional" affection for his friends. In The Making of Tron, he described Ram as a "boy in service" focused on the betterment of others, noting that when such a character discovers a great leader like Tron, he follows that leader for the service of mankind. * After the movie came out, Shor's 92-year-old grandmother, along with all her friends, started a letter-writing campaign to "Rerezz Ram." Category:Programs Category:Male Program Category:Basics Category:Character Category:Derezzed Category:TRON Universe Category:TRON Category:Canon Category:Allies Category:Heroes